This week\'s Weekly Wrap-Up Podcast is a bit late. Why? Well, our beloved Val Townsend, the Atomic Goddess, decided to commandeer a semi-truck, fill it up with generous donations of food, water, and essential items from the fine people of Western New York, and drove it down to Jackson, Mississippi, all on behalf of her radio station, 103.3 WEDG. To top it off, after three days of marathon truck-driving, Val still managed to pull off the Podcast before Midnight tonight. All we can do is look dumb and nod our heads in agreement over how much Val totally freaking ROCKS.

Back in the day, we used to publish the best letters we got and our most cleverest or thoughtful (or both) answers. Well, it\'s been awhile, but we\'re very happy to resurrect the GF! Mailbag. You can send your questions to be answered by our team of gaming experts to mailbag[AT]gamesfirst.com or, if you\'re not the curious type, you can also send in any rants, raves, reactions, thoughts, jokes, rumors, etc. We\'ll feature the best in future installments of the Mailbag.

There is a raging debate going on right now about the next generation of gaming consoles. For many, it can be summed up like this: Do prettier graphics justify an entirely new generation? Are the graphics in the next generation enough of an improvement to justify an entirely new generation? With game development cycles getting longer and hardware cycles getting shorter, it\'s entirely appropriate to address the issue of whether or not the next generation of home consoles is really worth it.

Our twoplayer comic today is a little bit different; there\'s less of a punch line than there is an image of rebellion. What do you do when your game cheats? What do you do when you die thirty times in a row in the exact same place in the exact same game? You fight back. When All Else Fails is this week\'s twoplayer comic. Check it out.

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 will be sold in two different packages, with the primary difference being whether or not there\'s a hard drive. Now, many in the gaming community are asking themselves if the extra hundred dollars is worth the mass media storage or not. We sit down to go over what the hard drive will give you, why you should care, and if it\'s for you. Pulling from a number of different sources, including interviews with members of the industry in the know, we do our best to make the decision easy for you. At least as best we can before the system actually launches.

Our man Aaron addresses the issue of whether or not to buy an Xbox 360 with a hard drive or without. After some recent comments from Epic about the Unreal Engine, it looks like the debate is still very much on. If you are not a current Xbox owner, or if you don\'t care much about Xbox Live and playing old Xbox games, then you definitely need to check out Aaron\'s analysis here.

This week in the podcast, Val delivers the rundown on some key news stories, as well as reviews of T-72: Balkans on Fire (PC), King of Fighters: Maximum Impact - Maniax (PS2), and Nintendogs (NDS). We finish out with a hands-on preview of Fable: The Lost Chapters, due in September for PC and later this Fall for Xbox.

Ghost Recon 2 and Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike are two of the all time most popular games to make their way onto the GF play list. Whenever we get together for a good night of gaming, Ghost Recon 2 is what occupies most of our time. We suck, though. Take a look at this week\'s twoplayer comic, Our Secret Weapon.

Twoplayer comic is published every Sunday at http://comics.gamesfirst.com

The Atomic Goddess, Val Townsend, is back with more of what you love from the good old (as in two weeks running) GF! Podcast. This week we rundown the latest in Xbox 360 news, check out reviews of Samurai Western, Fantastic Four, and WWE: Wrestlemania 21, plus we finish things out with a preview of Trauma Center: Under the Knife. Join us for some sonic gaming goodness.

The controversies over video games that have been showing up in the news lately are not really new. Sure, Hot Coffee was a big deal because it undermined what the ESRB is trying to do, but attacks on the industry have been around a long time. In fact, certain personalities have been pushing the evils of video games, regardless of reality, for a while now. Not that we\'re naming names, or anything. Check out this week\'s twoplayer comic: Not Who You Think.

Twoplayer comic is published every Sunday at http://comics.gamesfirst.com

We\'re happy to release the first of our weekly podcasts from the world of GamesFirst! featuring Val Townsend, the Atomic Goddess. This week we cover recent hardware news from Microsoft and Nintendo, review Dungeon Siege II, Conker Live & Reloaded, and Dragonball Z Sagas, and finish up with a look at The Battle for Orion\'s Belt, a mobile phone-based strategy shooter featuring team battles via your cellular handset.

After a bit of technical difficulty put a momentary hold on last week\'s twoplayer comic, we\'re back on the road again. While it\'s possible that more attractive people might have better luck talking to girls at coffee shops, nerds like myself understand the dangers of attempting to approach pretty much anyone. The world is a risky place, more for some than others. Check out Dangers of Dating, the most recent twoplayer comic.

Twoplayer comic is published every Sunday at http://comics.gamesfirst.com

Game strategies are good; learning all the button combinations will certainly put you ahead in most games. Sometimes, though, you die no matter how carefully you follow a strategy guide's advice, and then it's time for some bigger guns. When practice lets you down, don't be afraid to pick up a cheat or two and float past that tough boss with ease. Here's a few tips to help you get off the ground.

Sometimes games are not forgiving. You find yourself battling a monster for the hundredth time, and you can't help but wonder if maybe your game system might look better disassembled and strung out as wall decoration. Before you start shoving peanut butter into the DVD drive of your console as punishment, take a breath and read about getting by those difficult situations. No matter what the game, these tips will probably help.

Fighting games come in many different forms. Button mashing might help you gain ranks in some, and in others that\'ll leave you a heap on the ground while your opponent taunts you. Knowing how to take on the game you\'re playing means the difference between life and death, at least for your animated character. Our man Chris takes you through some quick tips to get your fighting game in shape for Namco\'s latest offering, Tekken 5. Knowledge is power.